Vital Signs, a newsletter from AdvancedMD, brings the healthcare industry’s top trends and insights to your inbox every month
In this month’s issue of Vital Signs, we learned that work-related stress is still a major challenge for medical group owners, healthcare providers can find their “flow” the same as elite athletes, and women—especially moms—are suffering through worse healthcare outcomes than most. Also, the ONC would like your input on its proposed Federal Health IT Strategic Plan, while CMS has passed a new rule for Medicaid, CHIP and BHP coverage.
Here’s a quick recap of these headlines and more:
- According to a report from Physicians Practice, private practices that negotiate higher reimbursement rates by even 2% to 3% could increase revenue by $500,000 or more.
- The Office of the national Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is asking healthcare providers to comment on their 2024 – 2030 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan before it moves to final. The comment period is open until May 28.
- A final rule passed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) aims to help people get—and keep—their Medicaid, CHIP, and BHP coverage: “With this final rule, CMS seeks to reduce coverage disruptions, further streamline Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment processes, reduce the administrative burden on states and people applying to and enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP programs.”
- A survey conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) revealed 60% of medical groups allow physicians to participate in developing their compensation packages.
- Another survey from MGMA revealed an astounding 75% of medical group owners say their stress levels have increased this year.
- Just like top athletes, physicians can also find their flow or get “in the zone” by embracing habits that help increase productivity: “Being in the zone means effortlessly practicing medicine, increasing productivity, improving efficiency, having a staff that enjoys caring for your patients, and, at the end of the day, walking away with a sense of joy, gratification, and contentment.”
- A report from Healthcare Dive claims more than three-fourths of U.S. doctors are employed by corporations (hospitals, health insurers & private equity entities).
- The 2024 Women’s Wellness Index found that moms in nuclear families have 10% worse health outcomes compared to the average woman. For single moms, health outcomes are 15% worse than the average woman.
- A recent study conducted by the Milbank Memorial Fund, a nonprofit focused on improving population health and health equity, found there has been a 36% jump in the share of U.S. children without a usual source of care over the last decade.
- A study published by the Journal of Medical Systems discovered ChatGPT may be able to help streamline polypharmacy prescription workflows: “When confronted with scenarios devoid of cardiovascular disease (CVD) history, the AI consistently recommended deprescribing medications, showcasing a cautious approach in the absence of complicating factors.”
Vital Signs is brought to you by AdvancedMD. It’s our way of helping you keep up on the trends and insights shaping our industry. Each month, we will send you a roundup of healthcare headlines so that you are in-the-know when it comes to the topics that matter most to you, your staff, and patients.
Read our monthly Vital Signs newsletter here or by email and stay up to date on the news that matters most to your private practice!